—BIG RACK BREWERY will be located at3911 St. Rt. 722 in New Madison, Ohio in the same site as the winery tasting room

The Bar area of the Tasting Room

for Kennedy Vineyards. The site is a fully operational farm and a family homestead. It is also a vineyard, and you can see the rows of grapes as you pull into the parking lot.

—The brewery will feature 4 in-house brewed, craft beers on tap. They will have one mainstay beer, an OATMEAL STOUT (yet to be named).

—The other 3 beers will be 1 Seasonal Brew, and 2 other taps that will be revolving with either new beers or returning favorites.

— The Brewery will sell growlers and pints and will continue to sell bottles of wines, glasses of wine, and wine flights.

Owners John and Louisa Kennedy

—There is plenty of seating in the tasting room and at the bar. This building was the old corn crib for the farm. There is also a beautiful view from the patio seating overlooking the farm and vineyard.

—The Food Adventures Crew has been to the homestead a handful of times, and the family is very genuine and friendly. They make you feel right at home.

—The news is so fresh that they have not even finalized their website yet.Stay tuned for the launch of www.bigrackbrewery.com

A perfect chance for you to visit and experience the Brewery and Winery is an incredible dinner event coming this summer.

They will be hosting a Hog Roast Food Adventure Dinner on Saturday June 3rd set with acoustic music early and a band in the evening.

The Food Adventures Crew can’t wait to try the new brews and we are very happy for the Kennedy family. We have seen the hard work they have put into the business over the past few years, and they have developed quite a following. We wish them continued success on this additional venture and suggest you visit them before and after the brewery is open. You will love this spot.

Speaking of love…. do you love the Miami Valley food scene? Then join FOOD ADVENTURES on Facebook by clicking HERE. We are not food critics, we are 3 passionate foodies that love to eat We love to share our favorite local spots and more. No rules, just good food.

Please feel free to browse the photos below of the Kennedy Homestead and future site of the brewery.

Tasting Room from the outside

John tends to customers in the tasting room

Early patio days – much more furniture now and same great view

Louisa educating us on their winery

Dinner bell

Wandering the vineyard

Updated tasting room

3 generations of family

Grandma Kennedy makes sure Ragu isnt double parked or she will pistol whip him with a yellow squash

We have a bigfoot sighting

The winery will be adding a BREWERY !

Kennedy Vineyard- expanding from wine to beer too !

It is great to see this locally owned business evolving

More patio seating

Chickens on the adjacent farm

From grapes, to hops and barley – they will have it all.

Outside the tasting room

Peaceful scene of the fields adjacent to the Vineyard – where baby Kal El landed in his spaceship from Krypton in Superman 1

It is all in the family for Kennedy Vineyard, a locally owned winery that you may not have heard of, but you will never forget.
Northwest of the Miami Valley, located in New Madison, Ohio, the property has personality, warmth and a homey feel. It makes sense. The winery and tasting room are all located on the family homestead. It is a fully functioning winery and farm. Depending on where you live in Dayton, the trip could take from between 20 to 45 minutes. It is a perfect date night, or destination Food Adventure. It feels like a weekend escape, when you have really just traveled to the next county.

— Three generations live on the homestead, from grandma to the grandaughter. All contribute to the working farm. You may see some chickens and crops if you keep your eyes peeled. Parts of the farm have been turned into the winery. The tasting room is the old corn crib. You may even get a welcome from the family’s young daughter, who is very sweet.

— John and Louisa Kennedy are the owners of the winery. They have poured a lot of dedication and hard work into making the place a comfortable and delicious experience. It is a welcoming spot and place that every Daytonian should visit.

Grapes on the vine

— Twelve years ago, John’s mom started planting the grapes. John, who grew up in the home, took over production and in 2014, the tasting room was opened.

—The Winery address is 3911 State Route 722, New Madison, Ohio. It is just a few miles off of an exit on I-70 West not far from Greenville/Arcanum.

—Kennedy Vineyard’s philosophy is to make the wines in small batches. This keeps the wines young, and helps preserve the fruity flavors. Many of the bottle’s labels are artwork from friends, family and customers. Some are drawn from photos taken at the winery by friends or family.

****** Wine Flights: 7, one ounce pours for $5 or build your own wine flights for $1 per pour

Inside the tasting room

****** Glasses of Wine: $5 – $8.50 depending on the wine

They have an assorted meat and cheese plates that hit the spot, while tasting wines. They sometimes offer flatbreads and soups as well. But the main event is the wine, and we have the breakdown of all the wines you don’t want to miss.

*NOTE* Dear Sophisticated wine drinkers, the selection of wines is not very dry, so don’t expect that. You can expect some semi-dry and fruity wines, many of them sweet as well. Keep an open mind, as they are a growing establishment using Ohio grapes. You won’t find a dry, dark merlot here….. yet.

MUST DRINKS at KENNEDY VINEYARD:

Meat and Cheese plate

TWISTED OAK: One of their dry, red wines. The wine is stored in oak barrels for flavor. The result is traces of coffee and rich, dark chocolate. The artwork on the label is truly unique.

LONE CEDAR RED: A dry wine made with De Chaunac Grapes, which is a hybrid of a French-American grape project in the 1860’s. The grape is vibrant in Canada, New York, Ohio and Michigan. This red wine won the bronze medal at the 2015 Finger Lakes International wine competition. Named for a lone

A view of the vineyard

cedar tree that survived on the farm.

DARKE KNIGHT: One of the Big Ragu’s favorite wines. It has black cherry and blackberry undertones. The vineyard describes it as “a full bodied, red wine.” A little too sweet for Hungry Jax tastes, this was a 2015 Finger Lakes International Wine Fest Silver Medal winner.

The youngest Kennedy on site showing off some fall squash harvest

RED NECK GIRL: The #1 selling wine at the Kennedy Vineyard. Is it the name or the soft and sweet taste. This wine dances with fruit flavors like cherry and raspberry. Refreshingly delicious, this wine was also a Silver Medal winner at the 2015 Finger Lakes International wine fest

EMERICK SKY: Semi Dry crisp white wine, with refreshing citrus flavors. Artwork on label is from a photo taken of the sky above Emerick Street.

RIESLING: The Big Ragu also pegs this as his other favorite. A sweet, refreshing taste , almost like champagne. Very light, white almost clear wine. The flavor is so nice and all day drinkable. The Big Ragu drank this one so fast, John Kennedy looked at him and said “You’re not much of a sipper are you?”

Delicious wines

LOVE AT FIRST WHITE: A signature white wine from Kennedy Vineyard. Big Ragu loves this one as well. Cold, refreshing and sweet. Fall in love with the sweetness and the bold flavors of the Niagara Grape.

RED NECK LOVE: This is an invention of the staff. It is actually a glass of half “Red Neck Girl” and half “Love at First White.” The result is a popular sweet blush. This one is a lot of fun and in the spirit of a Food Adventure.

BLACKBERRY WINE: Very fruity flavors abide in this one. A little deep, yet subtle, it is a great sipping wine. This wine is the 2nd most popular wine at Kennedy Vineyard.

Making “Red Neck Love”

RESILIENT: Their blush wine. Pink in color, refreshing and semi-sweet wine. $1 off all bottle sales goes to the Epilepsy Foundation

And now we turn to ones that are sold out until next year….

MUST DRINKS THAT ARE “OUT OF STOCK” UNTIL NEXT HARVEST:

Patio area

KV SUNSET: A dry, red wine, this is their Estate Reserve wine. This means the grapes were grown on premises and processed from vine, to crush to bottle at the winery. There were limited quantities of this one due to a limited quantities of a special “Chambourcin Grape” grown at the vineyard. It is a French-American Hybrid grape, and rare at Ohio wineries. KV Sunset is also the winery’s dryest wine. This is their rarest bottle of wine, and since they only brew a limited small batch, it goes quickly. Maybe you will get a taste in 2017. This is their dryest wine on the menu.

Grandma Kennedy talks with the Big Ragu

CHARDONNAY: This popular, dry white wine has a subtle oak taste. It is light tasting and has hints of citrus flavor. They are looking to get this favorite back in stock, real soon.

TRAMINETTE: A semi-dry white wine, this is a well balanced product. There are tastes of apple and pears, with a spicy end and aftertaste.

We have been to Kennedy Vineyard a four times now with friends, and this place has stolen our heart. It is a great story about a charming local

Darke Night wine – not Batman, but Darke County

family, who are delivering a fun product. Make sure you take the time to stop by this vineyard.

The Great Darke County Fair ends a week long array of festivities this Saturday, so there is still time to get your fair groove up near the Greenville / Arcanum area. It is about a 40 minute trip to the Darke County fairgrounds, but oh is it worth the drive.

Rides and and more rides, food and more food, and of course livestock to make your experience farm filled fun.

We have literally been having Food Adventures at this fair since the early 1970’s. The Big Ragu has memories of his grandfather John Miller, who was born in Arcanum, taking the whole family from Centerville to Greenville. So you could say we have 40+ years of expertise on this subject.

Cheese Curds from a Wisconsin Vendor

First of all, a NON-FOOD TIP

Hit the Horse Races Friday night 5:30pm – 9pm. The environment is a throwback like you wont experience at other racetracks.

Hit the Demolition Derby on Saturday 6:30pm. It’s like a Wal-Mart parking lot out there and maybe someone will give somebody the “Malachi Crunch” like in Happy Days.

— OPEN 7pm – MIDNIGHT both Friday and Saturday – enough time to get your grit on… but the FAIR ENDS SATURDAY!

— Admission is $7.00, people watching is free

So here we go with our often imitated never duplicated trademark… “Must Eats.”

Here is the result of decades of studies…..

MUST EATS at THE GREAT DARKE COUNTY FAIR:

— THE FOOTLONG HOT DOG& ROOT BEER from the THE DOG N SUDS TRAILER: The pride of Champagne, Illinois, you NEVER get to eat this stuff. You may see their root beer plastic

Lots of rides

bottles in stores, but “aint nothing like the real thing baby.”

— THE CHEESE CURDS from MIKE’S CHEESE SHACK: These cheeseheads are from Eau Claire, Wisconsin and every year they kill it at the fair. And every year we load up and chow down.

— THE “LOADED RIBBON FRIES” or “TORNADO POTATOES”: Ribbon cut potato chips, deep fried and topped with cheese, chives and bacon. We love this stuff. Eat them and devour them one string at a time. People will stare as you lower the pinwheels of potatoes into your mouth. That’s just jealousy.

Pulled Pork from Hog Wild

— THE TROLLEY BURGER WITH CANDIED BACON from KC CONCESSION’S TROLLEY CART: We eat it all, we know our stuff. This burger is perfect for a browsing Food Adventure. It is not too big and the candied bacon is definitely a nice attraction. Chew on friends….

— DEEP FRIED ALLIGATOR MEAT ON A STICK from CRACKERBILLIES: Exotic, yet familiar, these nuggets on a stick had a great taste. All the way from Cape Coral, Florida to your mouth! We went back for seconds.

— BEEF BRISKET from GRUMPY’S BBQ: Cooked low and slow by Grumpy himself, this old farmer not only has a badass disposition but his brisket is just a s bad. Actually , Grumpy is a pretty nice guy, we got him to smile … once….

Ohio’s Largest County Fair

— THE HOT BROWN from FARMER BROWN’S FOOD STAND: The restaurant that is a legend in Arcanum, is a hot spot at the fair with their food stand. Farmer Brown’s serves up not a Hot Carl.. but the Hot Brown – which is a shaved top round sandwich, with provolone, lettuce, special sauce and mushrooms. If that isnt enough they slap it on a grilled buttered bun. You might call it a Hot Brown, we love to refer to it as an “Arcanum Cheesesteak.”

— PULLED PORK SANDWICH from HOG WILD SMOKE HOUSE: Homemade sauce in huge squirt jars meant we loaded it up for a finger lickin, lip smackin helluva good ‘sammich’ (when its so good you can’t talk). We went hog wild for sure. These

— DEEP FRIED PECAN PIE from the PIE ON THE FLY: This is frickin’ sinful. The pies are “Wicks Pies” from Winchester, Indiana. It makes the deep

Deep Fried Pecan Pie

fried snickers look like child’s play. This is a piece of frickin pie deep fried in batter. The pecan pie is the one to get, and it is AMAZING. We actually had to sit down afterwards to take in the whole experience. INSANE yet so logical….

— FRIED DOUGH from FISKE CONCESSIONS: One of the deep fried candy bar booths has a treat we have enjoyed as kids. It is called “pizza frite” or fried dough. But this is the biggest slab of dough we have ever seen. Our moms and grandmas never made it that large. It is fried dough, with powdered sugar and it is the tick tick tick .. bomb! This vendor is from Brookville, Florida.

TWO MORE FOOD ADVENTURE TIPS:— Use this chance to hit MAID-RITE HAMBURGERSdown the street, on the way home… a loose meat sandwich that has a secret recipe that will keep you guessing and eating. We will grab a sack and love the snack.— Stop at KENNEDY VINEYARDS on the way home in New Madison. Wine off the vine and we love the sweet, to the blush to the dry. 15 Minutes from the fair, you will fall in love with this place.

Alligator Meat on a Stick

Open til 10pm this Saturday, and we will see you there!

That’s it – the FULL BLOWN story on the biggest county fair in Ohio…. See you next week with another foodie filled story!